Permissions for serial ports

I like to use the Unix principle of using the root (Administrator) account only when necessary, and then use a regular (albeit Power User) account for everything else. But so far this hasn't worked when using the serial ports.

I have a modem on COM1 and a PDA on COM5. When logged in as Administrator, everything works perfectly. But not when using my regular account.

Modem: When going to Phone and Modem in the Control Panel, the modem is listed but the Properties and other buttons are all grayed out. A voice application says the modem is disconnected or off when neither is true.
PDA: The sync software instantly reports success, but a quick check clearly shows nothing was transferred either way.

I know in Unix I could just put my regular account in an appropriate group and set group permissions on /dev/ttyS*. How can this effect be achieved in Win2000?

 

I guess this is a prime example of what Linux users are talking about: freedom to configure your system how you wish. However, you have to have the skills to do that. Just seeing "/dev/ttyS*" would scare most people enough to work around the problem in Windows. From what I understand the problem you have described goes back to the original Unix OS that was built around a solid system of user rights compared to a DOS system that was built around a more insecure system.

Sorry to hijack your thead with my rather simplistic understanding of operating system theory and history, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. In summary, unless it fits into a wizard in Windows, you can't do it and judging by the lack of response from others, I would say you're out of luck. You will have to make yourself vulnerable like the rest of us and operate as Administrator. Maybe Windows Vista will offer some help.

You may be able to find some help from sites such as:
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/q/all_windows_articles or
http://www.findingfacts.com/L3/L3_1_5_12.php

Good luck